Scottsdale Police Department shows $500K budget shortfall

The Scottsdale Police Department was $500,000 over budget for the first three months of the fiscal year that began July 1, according to city officials

On Tuesday, several City Council members expressed concerns about the overspending, which stemmed mostly from overtime but also included wages and other extra costs incurred during the first quarter.

Council members differed on who should manage the problem, with some saying it should fall under the purview of acting City Manager Dan Worth.

The police department was $500,000 over budget last quarter, spending $21.4 million rather than the $20.9 million earmarked in the budget.

"I'm concerned about it because it's got the budget out of balance now, and the prospects for improving that don't look very good," said Councilman Ron McCullagh, who made the original request for details on overtime.

The hour-long debate Tuesday began with a response from Public Safety Executive Director Alan Rodbell, who cited several forces driving up overtime costs, including the temporary filling of jobs while employees are training or injured.

Rodbell was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale Police Department spokesman, said the department's budget has a built-in cushion for unexpected losses in staffing, which "have been more than that cushion can allow for this year."

"Operating at minimum critical service levels, which is where we are, if you don't have actual people fully functioning officers or dispatchers available, then you have to pay overtime," Clark said.

Once an employee leaves the city, it can take about a year to train the replacement, he said.

Due to training, injuries and military leave, there are 18 police employees who are currently receiving paychecks but not working in the position, according to Clark.

This requires the city to fill the position temporarily.

Staff-intensive investigations in the last several months have also driven up overtime costs, Clark said.

As of Sept. 30, the Scottsdale Police Department was $700,000 over its budget for overtime, wages and other related costs.

Due to savings elsewhere, the overall difference was $500,000, said Budget Manager Judy McIlroy.

Rodbell told staff he is working with Worth to address the concerns raised on Tuesday.

During the discussion, McCullagh asked Rodbell if he thought the department would be within budget by the end of the current quarter, Dec. 31.

"I'm already half a million dollars above my budget. I doubt seriously I will get that in line ... by the end of the second quarter this year." Rodbell said. "Am I going to try? Am I going to put things in place to deal with that issue and to get to the end of the year under budget? Absolutely, that's what we do."

McCullagh asked Rodbell if he could provide an estimate of service cuts that are practical to ensure the department is within budget.

"Certainly I can work toward that goal," Rodbell said.

Rodbell noted that he would prefer suggestions from council members. As far as outlining possible cuts, problems can arise when city employees fear their jobs are on the line, he said.

"For me to create that fervor within my workforce ... I would prefer not to go through that," Rodbell said.

"Asking us to pick budget cuts in your department is like me asking you to do budget cuts at my law firm," said Borowsky, who founded her firm in 2006.

"Asking us to do that from the dais is completely inappropriate," she said. "That's why we have managers for departments."

Mayor Jim Lane said the problem sounds like a management issue, telling Rodbell, "it sounds to me like it does fall back on your shoulders to manage this thing."

The council receives regular updates on the budget. One of the reasons, according to Lane, is to find out where financial problems are before the end of the fiscal year June 30.

Lane was adamant that Rodbell adhere to the budget.

"When we ask for information as to what's going on in a department and why something is out of whack, if the city manager is not prepared to answer it, we hope the head of the department could answer it," Lane said.

But Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp said the issue "is something to be addressed by the city manager instead of looking at the police department just in isolation."

In July, the council chose Worth for the interim city manager post, under the condition that he will not pursue the position on a permanent basis.

The council has said it will not select a new city manager until after the new council is seated in January.

Worth did not comment during the discussion.

Klapp said it is not reasonable to require Rodbell to drum up a list of service cuts in a single month.

"I think you need a little more time than that to give us a true feeling of what can be done here," she said.

Councilman Bob Littlefield, who called the tone of the conversation "unsavory," agreed the city manager should address the issue.

"The city manager might say, you know I think that $700,000 was so important to spend, that in order to get back on budget, rather than cutting it from police department, we're going to cut it from somewhere else," Littlefield said.

"Maybe that involves cuts to employee services, and maybe it doesn't," he added.

Councilwoman Linda Milhaven agreed.

"I think we need to ask the city manager, 'How do you anticipate this will come out through the rest of the year?' " Milhaven said. "I think it's completely out of line for us to direct the director of public safety to give us this information."